Colby advances past PSC in NCAA Women's Soccer Regional

Nov 08, 1997

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - In a game decided by penalty
kicks after three overtimes, Colby College eliminated the Plymouth
State College women's soccer team from the NCAA Division III
Regionals Saturday at Panther Field.

The game was tied at 2-2 at the end of regulation and after the
two 15-minute overtimes. Each team scored three times in the first
round of penalty kicks, and Colby finally won it in the second
round of penalty kicks, 4-3.

Colby advances to the NCAA New England Regional Championship
game against Middlebury Sunday at 12:00 p.m. at PSC's Panther
Field. Middlebury blanked Bowdoin, 1-0, in Saturday's other
semi-final.

"This was a great opportunity for us to be here," said PSC coach
Marti Kingsley, "and though it ended unfavorably, it provides us
with invaluable experience that we'll bring with us to the field
next year when we get back to the NCAA Tournament. It's hard for
the seniors, but we're going to make it up to them next year.
They'll know they were a big part of our success."

"Our team was confident that we could (beat Plymouth
State), having played Bates in the tournament Wednesday" said Colby
fourth-year coach Jennifer Holsten. "Playing that game was
definitely a benefit to us. Coming into this weekend, we were the
only one of the four teams that had an NCAA game under our belt
this week."

PSC sophomore Caitlin Cook (Cutchogue, NY)
scored her 10th goal of the season to give the Panthers the
advantage just 13 minutes into the first half. Cook then set up
teammate Carrie Poulin (Westfield, MA) for her
record breaking 21st goal that put the Panthers up by two. Poulin,
the Panthers' freshman scoring machine and Little East Conference
scoring leader, has broken the school record for goals in a season,
surpassing the mark of 20 set by Mary-Bridget
Pawlik in 1992.

"Plymouth State came out strong in the first half and surprised
us a little," said Holsten, whose team now has a six-game winning
streak. "When we were down 2-0, we were hoping the experience of
the last six games, and the experience of beating Bates Wednesday,
would help us come together. The upperclassmen really picked it up,
and didn't panic, and allowed us to play our brand of soccer."

Colby freshman Carolyn Szum (Amherst, NH) put the White Mules on
the scoreboard with an unassisted goal to end the first half.
Colby's Jennifer Goodman (W.Suffield, CT) tied the game at the
68:06 mark, scoring her first goal of the season off a pass from
teammate Kristina Stahl (Farmington, CT).

"It was an incredibly physical game," said Kingsley. "It was
played incredibly fast, switching fields constantly. We felt a
little nervous, and we didn't play our game because we felt so much
pressure from Colby."

Each team scored three times in the first round of penalty
kicks, sending the game into a second round of penalty kicks, this
time in sudden death. Colby won in on the first try, when Kathryn
Rowen (Virginia, Beach, VA) found the back of the net, sending the
White Mules into Sunday's game with a 9-5-1 record, and ending
PSC's season at 15-2-1.